Itch, scratch, itch, it’s bed bugs on Gili Meno

It’s 4.44 in the morning and I’m lying here in my sagging single bed ON FIRE. And not in a good way. I’ve felt this feeling before, in several scummy dorm rooms in hostels in South America.

It starts with a tingling in your fingers and toes, which turns to an itch much more irritating than a mosquito bite. Then it turns into a series of bumps that go red and make you look like a leper. Bed bugs. There are bed bugs at Sunset Gecko here on Gili Meno. I just shone my phone around and caught this little fucker in action. Ugh.

How do you know that’s a bed bug, I hear you cry. Well, because I Googled its mates and they all look the same. Here’s what he’d look like if I took a professional Canon SLR micro zoom to bed with me instead of an iPhone:

Now, I’m not saying don’t stay at Sunset Gecko on Gili Meno because to be honest, if you’re going to pay $15 a night to stay on a beach you can’t expect the goose down, sleeping on clouds experience you can expect elsewhere when you’re a travel writer (ahem) and other things about this place are very nice, like the fact that it’s “eco friendly” and gives you a special organic, all natural soap to use in the shower. And like this sign and this view:

And also the huts from the outside:

See? Beautiful.

But if you want some modicum of rest without your digits itching all night, I’d suggest you take this blog along to reception and tell the staff you’d like the room without the freeloading critters living in it. Please.

Update:

It’s now 10.07 am. My arm is now in severe leper state. Worse than when we left Sunset Gecko this morning. Told the manager it was a tough night with the bed bugs and he offered to give us a free breakfast. We didn’t have time as we had to get the boat so he paid for our horse and cart ride to the harbour.

What annoys me really is that I think they knew the room had bed bugs before they let us in it, because no one seemed very surprised and I found several reviews on TripAdvisor from people saying the same thing.